Lady Raider
by starwars27
Summary: Tony Stark gets a call from a friend that reveals there is more to Tony Stark than what meets the eye. Who is Lady Raider? Why does she know so much about Tony? Why do Rhodey and Pepper not even know about her?
1. Who is Lady Raider?

'Cause I'm back, yes I'm back

Well, I'm back, yes I'm back

Well, I'm back, back

Well, I'm back in black

Yes, I'm back in black'

"Hold on, pause the movie, please. I've gotta get that," Tony says.

Tony gets up to get his phone.

"Too late," Clint yells "I've got it … hey, Tony who is Lady Raider?"

"Oh, shit, who's calling! Clint give me the phone," Tony exclaims.

"Whoa, calm down. Just tell us who it is," Clint smirks.

"It's a friend! Now give me my phone!"

"Clint, just give him his phone he has to answer his girlfriends call." Natasha grins.

Tony snatches back the phone

"She's not my girlfriend," Tony says while clicking the green phone button.

"Hello, sunshine," Tony says in a false happy tone.

Everyone snickers.

*On the call*

Lara gags, "Hello sugar plum, you know I hate the name sunshine. It sounds so happy and domestic, makes me want to gag."

"And you know how much I hate being called sugar plum," Tony throws back.

(More giggles in the background. Tony glares at them.)

"Anyway… Tony… sweetheart … you know how we agreed to never be seen out in public unless it was at an emergency, so you know no one will make a big deal about it." Lara starts.

"Yeah," Tony repeats.

"So if I were to land a helicopter on your hangar being oh, I don't know *cough* severely injured *cough* in about 15-20 minutes, you wouldn't mind right?" She asks her voice getting higher by each word.

"No, I don't mind if you… severely injured ….. oh god, honey, what happened?" He asks suddenly dejected.

"Tony, sweetie, I can't go into the specifics right now, all I can say is that I've lost a lot of blood, I'm barely conscious, and at this point in time, I have no clue how I am still flying this thing. You'll see me in 15 minutes give or take. I have to go now, I need to focus on flying right now. Bye." She breathes.

*End Call*

"No don't ….. hang up," He sighs.

"Everything okay in paradise?" Rhodey questions softly.

"First of all, not my girlfriend. Second of all, no, not okay. Lastly, we need to get all of the medical supplies we can up to this floor within 15 minutes," He announces.

"Why can't we just bring whoever is injured down to the hospital level?" Steve asks.

"She doesn't like hospitals," Tony replies.

"Who's injured?" Steve implored.

Tony is italicized and Bruce is bold.

"_A friend, and Bruce I need you to help fix her." _

"**I'm not that type of doctor."**

"_Please, Bruce. My friend is landing here soon and she doesn't like hospitals. I can't do that to her. Please, Bruce, I'll really owe you one."_

"**It's fine Tony, how bad is it?"**

"_I don't know, but if she admits to being severely injured, hell injured at all, then it's really bad."_

"**You never know it could be a bad injury, but a quick fix." (Trying to comfort)**

"_She says she lost a lot of blood and doesn't know how she is still conscious." (Says deadpanned)_

"**Well, that's never any good. Let's just hope for the best."**

*15 Minutes Later*

"That is all, friend Tony?" Thor questions.

"Yeah, that's all big guys. Now, all we can do is wait." Toyn says anxiously.

"I am sure your Lady Raider will be all right, son of Stark," Thor says solemnly.

"I hope so" Tony mumbles.

"Stark, I see the helicopter," Natasha yells from the hangar.

"K, guys stay near the supplies and be ready to help Bruce. Bruce can you bring the stretcher and follow me onto the platform. I'm gonna go to the helicopter and see how bad things are." Tony says taking charge.

The helicopter lands in bad shape. It was missing 2 propellors and the other 2 were bent in bad shape. All of the doors had been ripped off and the nose looked smashed in. The plane landed with a crash and destroyed the skids completely.

'How in gods name did she fly this plane here?' Tony wonders.

A figure starts to make its way out of the helicopter but stumbles on the way down the step.

"Lara!" Tony quickly makes his way over to her to help her down, while bringing the stretcher.

Tony gets to her, carries her bridal style and lays her down on the stretcher before he gets a good look at her. Thor was wrong she was not all right. He had never seen her look worse. She had a cut across each of her cheekbones, her right eye was swollen, and her nose was bruised and bleeding; it was probably broken, and that was just her face. Her neck was starting to show bruising in the form of fingers and was swelling up. Her shoulder was definitely dislocated, at the top of her arms she had cuts and bruises everywhere, at the bottom she had marks that looked like cuts but were made out to be expressions and her right wrist was so twisted and beaten it was clearly broken. Her stomach doesn't look so bad with a few bruises and cuts until he sees it, a bullet lodged into the left side of her hip and bleeding profusely, 1 of the 3 he would later find. Another one was located in the back of her left shoulder and another one in her lower left calf. The right knee was separated so badly that you could see the bone poking out of her skin and her left foot was absolutely crushed.

"Oh, shit," Tony chokes out.

"Tony?" Lara croaks.

"It's okay, sweet pea. I'm here." Tony reassures while taking her hand into his and caressing her hair. He wheels the stretcher inside to the others.

"Holy crap, Tony," Steve says.

Bruce gasps in the background.

"Yeah, I know," Tony sighs, "Can you fix her Bruce?"

Lara groans, "No, no fix only sleep. I'll be fine Tony."

"Lara" Tony reprimands. 'How is she still awake?' He thinks in awe.

"I know, I know, you know my conditions don't let them…" Lara trails off.

"Shh…. I know, you can go to sleep now, you're safe." Tony cards his fingers through her hair. Lara slowly closes her eyes.

"Conditions?" Bruce asks.

"Yeah, I know this sounds bad, but you can't give her anything for pain. She's allergic to a lot of the components in medicine." Tony replies.

"But that sounds… inhuman. Isn't there something we can give her?" Bruce pleads.

"There are a few things that she can use, but she refuses to use it because it gives her nightmares and it means she isn't in control. It's a terrible reality, but that's the truth and Bruce she's losing blood." Tony says urgently.

"Oh! Sorry, Jarvis, can you give her a scan and show the results on my tablet?" Bruce preps his tablet.

"Already done, sir," Jarvis responds.

"Oh, dear. She has a concussion and some brain trauma to her limbic system, which works with memories so we will have to deal with that when she wakes up. There is a major strain in her neck, so she will need a neck brace. We are going to have to pop her shoulder bone back into place and she broke her collar bone so we need a wrap for that. She has 13 broken ribs and a broken right knee. 3 bullets: 1 in her left shoulder, 1 in her left hip, and the last 1 in her left calf. The tarsals in her left foot are shattered and her liver is destroyed. Okay, I need you guys to roll the utility cart and straps over here now!" Bruce states, "I'm sorry Tony, but I'm gonna need to strap her down in case of spasms and I need peace and quiet so you guys have to leave."

"But…" Tony starts.

"Come on Tony, we'll leave you to it, Dr. Banner," Steve says leading Tony and the other Avengers to the elevator.

*In Tony's Room*

'God I hope she's alright.' Tony thinks while downing a glass of scotch.


	2. How do you know Lara Croft?

Let me explain Lara Croft's background before I start the story. She is 20 and in charge of Croft Holdings plus finishing off her father's work. She has known Tony before he became Iron Man. They became tomb raiders together and are an unstoppable team. It's the Lara Croft for the 2018 Movie and then has the adventures for Angelina Jolie's character after that. Those missions happen when Lara is 15 and she meets Tony when she was 15. Lara's father went missing when she was 13 and went "missing" when she was 13. Eventually, the events of tomb raider happened and she came back. I believe that Lara Croft is smart, so she finished high school while she was "missing". She finished it online and when she took over the company she went to the University of Cambridge and got multiple PhDs in business, science, law, health, teaching, and humanities. She got other degrees in languages, culinary, cosmetology, and childhood education because she needs these things to manipulate people and survive undercover or on the run.

It's the next day in Stark Tower and all of its residents are thinking about the events that occurred yesterday. Everyone except for the lady and Tony were in the common room discussing Tony.

"Guys, we need to discuss this woman and who she is to Tony." -Steve

"Her name is Lara Croft and she is head of Croft Holdings. What she was doing last night however is unknown, I've hacked into every database and I can't find anything, but I think that might be because of Tony." -Natasha

"Jarvis is Tony awake?" -Bruce

"Sir woke up an hour ago." -Jarvis

"Can you call Tony down here please?" Bruce takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes.

"Sir will be down in 5 minutes." -Jarvis

5 minutes pass and the Avengers impatiently await his arrival. Tony puts on a faux persona and walks toward the group with his Tony Stark swagger.

"What the hell Tony? First, this random lady shows up on our hangar half dead and she apparently has some good relationship when none of us have seen you with her. Rhodey doesn't even know her when he has been with you since college! I mean last night you were worried sick and now you're pretending like you don't even care about her! How do you even know Lara Croft?" Steve yells and berates Tony.

Tony ignores him, "Bruce how is she doing?"

"Um, she's stable and she has gotten steadily better to the point she won't die if stands up." Bruce informs, "But if you don't mind Tony I would like to know what is going on too if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, Tony we would like to know why she is here." Loki throws in.

After a few more murmurs from the other Avengers, Rhodey, and Pepper, Tony is about to answer when a ding from the elevator goes off and the doors open.

"Sir, Nick Fury, and Phil Coulson appear to have overridden my systems and are on your level now." -Jarvis

"Thanks for the warning J," Tony responds sarcastically.

"Stark, why the hell am I getting reports saying that a near-dead Lara Croft arrived on your hangar yesterday?" Fury demands.

Tony swings his head toward Natasha and Clint, "You told him?!"

"Someone has to," Natasha shrugs.

"Now can someone tell me what is going on?" Nick asks.

Everyone looks at Tony expectantly, "She's a business partner and a friend."

"That's it. That's all you have to say!" -Clint

"I can't and won't tell you anything until she's awake," Tony says defiantly.

"Fine, then I guess we aren't leaving until she is awake." -Phil

A few minutes go by, Bruce and Loki both notice that Tony is shaking and they give each other a look, "Why don't Loki and I take you down to your lab while everyone is waiting." -Bruce

"You guys can't just…" Clint gets cut off by Loki and Bruce giving him a look and nodding toward Tony. Everyone looks at the state that Tony was in and nods in agreement.

"By the way, we don't know when she will wake up, so I would get comfy if I were you." Loki snarls.

Loki and Bruce both grab onto Tony on the arms and help him to the elevator. They take him to his lab and they all sit down on a bench.

"Tony?" -Loki

"I can't lose her. What if she never wakes up? Then the world will blame me and then Stark Industries stock will plummet and then Pepper will hate me. Who will take care of Croft Holdings? Who is going to take care of her tomb raiding missions?" Tony panics.

"Tomb raiding?" Bruce questions. Tony looks at them with his eyes hardened, "Tomb Raider is a person who goes after ancient artifacts. Some of them can be magical others are just important pieces. In order to get to the artifact though you have to go through booby traps and do a lot of research to even find out where it is located and then you have to take into account that other raiders want it, making the job 10 times more difficult. You might even find the location and then find out that in order to get it you have to wait for a certain date and time. In the tomb raiding world, there are good and bad tomb raiders and Lara is one of the good ones, she needs to get to the artifacts before the bad ones do something stupid with them, like change the timeline or open a box releasing every type of disease imaginable to the universe."

"Okay, but how do you know her?" -Loki

"She's a business partner." -Tony

"Tony, we won't tell the others the story. We just want to know what is going on," Bruce pleads.

Tony sighs, "I knew her since before I was Iron Man. We met in England during a business meeting a few years ago, but she was younger than about 15, 16. She kept looking at the exits and looked a little panicked at the people in the room. She went over a review with each company and when she finished we left the room. I grabbed what I thought was my suitcase and when I realized it wasn't I went back in. The suitcase had a few journals in it and a glowing orb. When I went back in the scene I saw was a little surprising, Lara was behind a table shooting at the other businessmen and women. They started dodging them and started to corner her in, the suitcase I had left back had one of the prototypes of a gun in it and I got it out of my bag since no one was watching me and shot 2 of the people since they were distracted Lara shot the rest. I quickly grabbed her before anyone else came. " Tony chuckles, "She kept yelling at me to let her go. She was banging on my arm yelling that she needed her suitcase. Once I had shown her the suitcase she yelled at me saying she can take care of herself. I'm not going to tell you the rest of the story, but I helped her finish that mission and a lot more after that. She helps me with Iron Man, too. As we got older it became harder to keep in touch, but we make sure to meet up at least once a month. Our relationship has changed, we flirt a little more and we are a little more serious, but we are not a thing if that's what you guys are thinking."

Bruce and Loki look at each with a smirk. They both saw the love and joy in his eyes talking to her. It's how they feel about him, if only he realized it. 'Maybe this Lara person will want to share.' Loki muses.

"So now we have the story, but why doesn't Pepper and Rhodey know about her?" -Bruce

"I never really got around to telling them. I wanted something for myself, I'm Tony Stark everyone knows my whole life story. We became friends and she wasn't someone who wanted me for my money or my company because she owns part of it. I just liked having a secret world where I wasn't Tony Stark and eventually Iron Man. I got a place where we can train together and get stronger together. I just felt younger," Tony reveals, "I was going to tell them eventually because Lara told her butler Winston because we went to her place and sometimes he would wonder why she would go missing, but then Pepper broke up with me and got with Rhodey, I mean I'm over it now, but I needed somewhere where they wouldn't know where I am and she became that place."

Loki and Bruce both give him a sad look, "Look, Tony, we have no problem with this, we just wanted to know why you kept her from us."

Tony wasn't paying attention, "I mean we were creating a suit of armor for her together! I can't lose her!"

"Tony! Calm down. She will be alright," Bruce says firmly.

"If you're really worried about her why don't we go down and check on her. It's about time for me to do my hourly check anyway," Bruce offers.

Tony nods; Tony, Bruce, and Loki go down to the medical level to check on Lara, but when they go into her room she isn't there. Tony starts to panic, "Where is she?!" 'She couldn't have left. If she did, she couldn't leave far. She wouldn't do that, would she?'

'If she left she could make her injuries worse!' Bruce thinks.

I swear to god, if that woman up and left Tony after what happened last night I will personally hunt her down.' Loki viciously thinks.

All of their thoughts are cut off when they hear the door clicked open and see Lara leaning heavily on the door frame. She looks worried and exhausted.

"Hi," Lara says shy and guiltily.

"Lara, where were you?" -Tony

"I had to call Winston to make sure he knew I was okay and then I had to use the bathroom," Lara's raspy voice fills the air and looks at the other 2 occupants in the room.

"I'm Bruce Banner," -Bruce

"Loki Odinson of Asgard," -Loki

"Tony, Winston is coming by to drop off clothes and some supplies for me to change into and for a meeting I have later," Lara winces as she knows what is coming next.

"Meeting? Lara, you are not going to a meeting later. You have so many injuries, I can't even count them all. Whatever happened to calling me when things got rough? Huh!" Tony yells.

"I did call you and there wasn't supposed to be that many people there." -Lara

"Lara…" -Tony

"No Tony, it's just a meeting and I'll come right back. You always complain about how you have so much work to do and you never get to hang out with the Avengers. I was giving you a break; I wasn't supposed to get hurt this bad." -Lara

"Why don't you just sit down and we can talk a little?" Bruce suggests.

Lara walks a little to the bed and stumbles, Tony shoots his hand out to help her to the bed.

"How are you supposed to do a meeting?" -Tony

"If I rest for the whole day until the meeting and don't walk until I reach the building I'll last. Besides, I have 1 meeting today and my second meeting is with you, so I think we're fine." -Lara

Bruce starts to do a check-up on Lara when he notices tubes that clear the water from her lungs on the floor, he picks up the tubes and shows them to Lara.

"Mind telling me how these came out," Bruce quirks an eyebrow.

"I ripped them out," Lara lays her head on Tony's shoulder and tries to hide her face.

"I need you to open wide so I can put it back-" -Bruce

"No!" Lara rushes out, "I don't need it, I've been fine without it so far."

"Lara…" -Tony

"We can put it in if something happens." -Lara

"Fine, but you realize this means you have to tell me what happened right," Tony smirks.

"Tube! Now." -Lara

"Lara, what happened?" Tony asks gently.

"The Order of Trinity is back and better than ever. I can't tell what company is with them yet. I have to have meetings with all of the companies I own, so I can do an evaluation on them to see if they're part of the Trinity." Lara huffs.

"That doesn't tell us what happened," Loki points out.

"It's all that needs to be said." Lara glares at Loki.

"Lara," Tony sighs.

"Tony," Lara stands her ground and they both have a stare down until Tony gave a tiny nod.

"Okay, so there was damage to your limbic system and we have to do a little test to make sure there isn't anything wrong. Tony, going to need to conduct that because you know her," Bruce instructs.

Tony italicized and Lara is bold.

"_Tell us about the first time we met."_

"**We met on May 22, 2007, on a Tuesday. The first time I came into contact with you that day was 11:50. The first time I was in the same room as you was at 10:45. I was wearing an open oversized beige silk blouse with a tan v-neck tank top and light wash booty shorts. I had on knee-high black gladiator heels. You were wearing a grey suit with a blush pink and baby blue floral silk dress shirt and a white floral silk tie and matching handkerchief. You had on a light blue and pink Nike sneakers and a pair of your signature glasses. I remember your outfit because I was amused by the floral and your need for sneakers. I remember mine because Ana was pissed at me for leaving the house looking like a normal teenager. You were there showing me to present the idea of the Jericho missile." **

"_When did your father go missing?"_

"**My father was declared missing on March 14, 2005, a month after my birthday. The actual date he went missing was unknown."**

"_When did you take over Croft Holdings?"_

"**I took over on February 14, 2007, on my birthday, officially."**

"_One more question, how did your mother die?"_

"**She died in a plane crash." **

* * *

"It looks like her memory is perfectly intact," Bruce says in relief.

"Yeah, I just wish she would tell me what happened," Tony says dejectedly.

"With time Tony, with time," Loki says, "What did she say about telling the others?"

"Oh, she said I can tell them whatever bullshit I want," Tony says smiling all of a sudden.

"What were you thinking?" Loki quirks an eyebrow.

"I'm just going to pretend that I've been married to her for 2 years. I mean if that's all right with you guys," Tony fidgets.

Both Bruce and Loki give the okay and giggle a little bit both wondering how the spies are going to handle not knowing about it.

* * *

Lara and the trio go in the elevator and wait for it to open on the lounge floor. Tony is a constant stream of worrying about her injuries and so are the rest of them, apparently, they thought the person that was literally dying yesterday was going to sit down and take things easy. How silly of them. Eventually, the elevator opens and Tony walks out with his Tony fucking Stark swagger and beckons all of them to sit down. The silence is tense and awkward, after a few minutes everyone chooses to look between Lara and Tony waiting for one of them to speak up.

"Well, this is awkward. I'm just going to take me and my wife downstairs because she has meetings to attend." Tony carefully takes Lara's shoulders and helps her up and they start walking back to the elevators.

"Stark, you can't just leave," Nick calls after them. The rest of the Avengers are stunned to silence. "Did he just say, wife?" Clint whispers in disbelief. "Tony! Did you say, wife!?"

"For 2 years," Tony yells back. They both get on the elevator and Lara gives a little wave and a sarcastic "Pleasure to meet you." When the door closes they both start laughing. "I wonder how long we can keep this up until they notice we are faking." Tony wonders aloud.

"I don't think we should keep it that long or those 2 guys you are so fond of might get angry." Lara gives an airly laugh.

"Why would they be mad?" Tony looks genuinely confused. "You don't know?" Lara analyzes Tony's face and can only find genuine confusion. "Oh, god you don't know!" Lara starts laughing again. "Know what?" Tony repeats. "Nothing," Lara quickly shakes her head. "Telllllllllll meeeeeee." Tony stretches out. All Lara gives is a laugh and a shake from her head.


End file.
